


The Stark Family

by CaraMia



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, really brief howling commandos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 08:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10658874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaraMia/pseuds/CaraMia
Summary: The letter is short and to the point, written in an elegant hand on heavy stationery. Peggy is in awe. She never thought that Maria would ever do it. She's taken Tony and left Howard.





	The Stark Family

Howard is tearing through the mansion, throwing clothes out of closets, emptying cabinets and drawers. Peggy comes in, drawn by an urgent call from the Stark's latest maid: Mr. Stark is tearing apart the house and Mrs. Stark hasn't been home since yesterday. It's possible that Maria and young Anthony have been taken hostage but Peggy has been friends with Howard for a long time; he would've called her if he'd received a ransom demand. 

"Peg, excellent, read this and help me find out what else she's taken." Howard shoves a short letter in her hands before sprinting back up the stairs. 

The letter is short and to the point, written in an elegant hand on heavy stationery. Peggy is in awe. She never thought that Maria would ever do it. She's taken Tony and left Howard. 

Peggy goes and makes them a pot of tea. Howard won't find any clues in what Maria has left behind or taken. 

By the time Howard joins her in the kitchen, the tea is cold and the sun has set. Peggy pours him a small glass of whiskey, refuses to pour more despite his scowl, and sits across from him. 

"Damn lot of help you were today, Peg," Howard says and he does not drink all the whiskey down in one swallow. He merely fidgets with the glass, spinning it around in his hands. 

Peggy may not be a particularly nice woman (she's a secret government agent for fuck's sake) but Howard has been her friend for many years, so she keeps her voice as gentle as she can. 

"Ask yourself this, Howard: do you want her back because you love her, or because she's taken something you consider 'yours'?" 

"What difference does that make?" He snaps and now he does throw back the whiskey. Peggy sits back, very clearly putting some distance between them. 

"I suspect, Howard, that it makes rather a large difference to her." 

~*~ 

Maria Collins Carbonell Stark waits until Tony's fourth birthday party is over before she packs their bags and takes them to a hotel. Howard doesn't know because he isn't there. She leaves a message for him, making very clear that she left under her own will. 

They do not hide - what would be the point of hiding from one of the richest men in the world? He can always find them. She makes sure he can, a trail of forwarding addresses anyone could follow. He sends men to bring them home. They return empty handed, but always with the same message from Maria: Come get us yourself, if you dare. 

He does not dare. 

(Not for a long time.) 

Maria and Tony move a few times, trying out homes and schools, looking for a place for both of them to fit. It is a surprise when 8-year-old Tony comes to her while they're living in Paris and asks if they can stay. Tony, it seems, loves the city and loves that his mother loves it as well. 

Across an ocean, Howard moves out of the Stark family mansion and into a brownstone in Brooklyn, immediately raising the property value. It's still too big for just one man but he never voices this thought out loud. Starks are not known for admitting their mistakes. 

Peggy and the Howling Commandos visit Maria and Tony in Paris. They do not tell Howard. He knows anyway. 

Tony knows who his father is, Maria never lies to him. They may be Carbonells on paper but they watch every news interview with Howard Stark and buy all the newest Stark Industries gadgets (those that aren't weapons - there are fewer and fewer of those every year). Well, the gadgets show up at their door, anyway. They're not hiding, after all. Howard knows exactly where they are. He gets birthday and Christmas cards from his wife and son, pictures of them on boats and under Christmas trees. They are always smiling and there is always a space to Maria's right, a conspicuous blank space where Howard should (could) be. 

Maria never lies to her son so when he asks why they live an ocean away from his father, she tells him. 

"Stark Industries is your father's first love and his first child," she says, and she is not bitter, only a little sad. She knew this about Howard before she married him. "I knew that we would have been secondary to it our whole lives with him and we deserved more than that. I gave him six years and he never tried to change his priorities." 

She smiles and strokes her son's hair out of his face. He shines like the sun, happy and healthy and she could wish for nothing more than this for him. 

"I could have stayed and been happy. But you are my priority, Tony, and I could not have watched you grow up under the shadow of Stark Industries." 

~*~ 

The media is slower in those days. It takes almost a month before someone notices that Mrs. Stark is no longer hosting parties in the fabulous Stark residence. A little digging reveals that Mrs. Stark and her son have a new address out of state. 

No divorce papers have been filed, Howard does not go out with strange and beautiful women, and he refuses to answer any questions about his absent wife and son. Speculation abounds, fading and rising with each move Maria and Tony make that does not return them to Howard. 

The news that Mrs. Stark has moved to Europe is closely followed by an announcement that Stark Industries is opening its second European branch. Maria Stark and her young son are frequent visitors of the construction site. 

Whatever is going on, neither of the Starks are talking. 

~*~ 

Howard is there for the official opening ceremony of SI Paris. He looks thin, like maybe he forgets to eat, and tired, like maybe he forgets to sleep. 

He does not go to see his wife and son. 

~*~ 

Tony grows up speaking more French than English. His only memories of his father are distant, impressions rather than actual memories. Maria tells him the story of how they met, the Howling Commandos and Peggy tell him war stories. 

When Edwin and Anna Jarvis show up at their door, a year after Maria moves out, Jarvis tells Tony tales of workshop mishaps and how marrying Maria changed Howard. 

Tony delights in story telling and learning and making his mother laugh. He builds his first engine at 8, laughing with Jacques Dernier, covered in grease as Jarvis hovers. Nothing explodes, much to everyone's surprise. 

He is no less intelligent but he is less driven to prove himself against an indefinable standard set by his distant father. Instead, he's motivated by his curiosity and his own desire to understand and dismantle the world around him. 

(He brings his first circuit board to her when he's 7, twisting it nervously in his hands before offering it to her and asking if she thinks his father would be proud of him. 

"I know I am," Maria says, immediately. "And I know you are. Let's send it to him, hm? See what he says." 

There's no response to their letter but Maria knows Howard and advises Tony to be patient for a little while. A few months later a magazine publishes a small piece on Howard Stark's latest works. There is a picture of him leaning against a mantelpiece, smiling rakishly at the camera. Next to his arm is a neatly framed circuit board, easily recognizable as Tony's.) 

Maria is devoted to her son and herself, working with charities and on a business degree. Years of interaction with Howard and Stark Industries has made an impression and she digs in, curiosity taking her further and further. 

Tony doesn't get everything from his father. He accompanies Maria to her classes, submitting papers and homework just like another student. Over dinner, they discuss markets and theorize on what SI will expand next, before switching to discussing what new museums and cities they want to explore on their next school holiday. 

When Tony gets bored at school, he and Maria sit down and figure out what to do next. Tony picks tutors and extracurricular classes and decides which schools he wants to attend. 

~*~ 

Howard returns for the anniversary celebration at SI Paris. It has been five years since he has seen his family. His receptionist sends Mrs. Stark an invitation to attend the event. 

Howard finds her polite refusal letter on his desk the day after the event, explaining that they had already planned a family trip to Italy. 

The word "family" is underlined. Maria does not do subtle, not after five years. 

When Howard confronts his secretary, the man admits to receiving a ticket and invitation from Mrs. Stark for Mr. Stark. Howard had told his support staff that the anniversary celebration took priority over everything, yes, everything. 

Howard does not fire his secretary. He may be angry, but he is not enough of a fool to place the blame anywhere but at his own door. 

He stays in his office late into the night, an untouched glass of whiskey by his elbow, and he thinks. 

The flower arrangement arrives at Maria's hotel room the next morning, accompanied by a small card with Howard's own handwriting. It reads, simply: "For both of you. Love, Howard". It is the first time in five years that something Howard has done has made her smile. 

Tony shows up in time to see the smile and reads the card over her shoulder. (She's sitting down. He's still young and there's a chance he might hit an unreasonable growth spurt, but Maria suspects he will reach exactly Howard's height and no taller.) 

"Looks like dad's finally getting his act together," Tony says and smiles. 

"Perhaps," Maria says, smiling at her son in return. "Now, where should we go first?" 

~*~ 

Howard waits until after Tony's tenth birthday party is over before he knocks on their door.


End file.
